ISTANBUL

Sudan's warring sides have agreed to open two key humanitarian aid routes, a group of mediators said on Friday.

In a statement, the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan (ALPS) said that it secured guarantees from both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to provide "safe and unhindered humanitarian access" through two key corridors.

One was the Adre border crossing with Chad, which leads into the Darfur region. The other was along the Dabbah Road from Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

Aid trucks have already begun moving towards famine-hit areas such as Zamzam Camp in Darfur in western Sudan, the statement said.

“These routes must remain open and safe so we can surge aid into Darfur and begin to turn the tide against famine,” the statement emphasized.

The group also highlighted the broader implications of the agreement, saying that they are "making progress toward opening an access route through the Sennar junction," with the UN currently conducting a feasibility study for additional routes that could provide aid to nearly 20 million "vulnerable" Sudanese.

In addition to securing aid routes, the ALPS group reported progress in protecting civilians. “We have urged both parties, and received the RSF’s commitment, to issue command directives to all fighters to refrain from violations, including violence against women or children.”

The negotiations, held in Switzerland, included representatives from the US, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, the African Union, and the UN.

Some 500 days of violence and conflict have left Sudan in the grip of a humanitarian crisis that many say is one of the largest in the world.

Almost 52,000 people have been killed or wounded and tens of millions displaced since April 2023, when a battle for power erupted between the Sudan army led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary RSF headed by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.